Ham, Nye and BioLogos

Last updated on: February 6, 2014 at 10:23 am By Scot McKnight

BioLogos, yesterday, posted responses to the Nye-Ham debate about evolution and creation. Here is BioLogos President Deb Haarsma’s concluding response: While the debate pitted two extreme positions against one another, I was glad to hear references to other options. Bill Nye repeatedly pointed out that many religious people, including Christians, accept the evidence for evolution and the age of the earth. Nye even mentioned our founder, Francis Collins! Ken Ham pointed out that the scientific method grew out of the... Read more

The Great Debate? Nye vs. Ham (RJS)

Last updated on: February 7, 2014 at 5:34 am By RJS

Is creation a viable model of origins in today’s modern scientific era? As many probably know there was a debate on Tuesday, this one with Bill Nye, The Science Guy, vs. Ken Ham, The Bible Guy. The debate is, for a time at least, readily available on YouTube. I was busy Tuesday and couldn’t watch live, but listened to the entirety Wednesday night. The debate was interesting, entirely civil, and rather predictable. Ken Ham emphasized (repeatedly) that historical science must... Read more

NT Wright: Paul, Israel and the Church

Last updated on: February 5, 2014 at 9:33 pm By Scot McKnight

NT Wright’s new study on Paul, Paul and the Faithfulness of God, argues two central themes: that monotheism, election of Israel, and eschatology have been fulfilled in Christ and the Spirit, and that this fulfillment is entirely within the scope of Israel’s Story — it is not “replacement” but “fulfillment.” He knows classical Protestant theologians think he’s got too much Israel, too much church, and not enough on justification in the personal soterian mode of thinking; he knows anti-supersessionists think a... Read more

TumbleWeedBlizzards

Last updated on: February 5, 2014 at 11:02 am By Scot McKnight

Source: Tumbleweeds might not seem like a major threat, but if you live in Clovis, New Mexico you should probably just lay down your hope for humanity onto the traintracks of inevitability and pray for a swift end: HUNDREDS OF TUMBLEWEEDS ARE INVADING. And by “invading” I don’t mean “a few of them have bobbled around here and there and caused a nuisance.” There’s 3 or 4 feet of tumbleweeds covering the ground in some parts of town. Some residents can’t... Read more

Drums and Giving (by Jonathan Storment)

Last updated on: February 5, 2014 at 5:32 am By Scot McKnight

This is post is by Jonathan Storment, preacher at Highland Park Church of Christ in Abilene TX. A few years ago, I read some research on Tony Jones’ blog that was eye-opening. It was about the effectiveness of intergenerational ministry between mainline churches. The point of the research was this: They discovered a direct and negative correlation between the use of drums and giving. If you played drums in worship, the giving of the church would drop drastically. Simply put,... Read more

When Leaders Demand Honor

Last updated on: February 8, 2014 at 9:25 pm By Scot McKnight

As we described in a previous post (Putting People in their Place), the Roman world was a world shaped by the “honors race,” or the quest for honor and status. What happens when the gospel invades the honors race? What happens, more particularly, when the apostle Paul encounters the Roman honors race with a gospel about a King who was crucified? A radical reshaping of how leadership works — but that’s getting ahead of where we need to go today.... Read more

What do you think?

Last updated on: February 3, 2014 at 11:03 pm By Scot McKnight

I got a letter asking about Christians and the Sabbath. Here’s the letter, and I wonder What do you think? If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words – Isaiah 58:13 I’ve been taught the... Read more

A Few Slots in our DMin Still Open

Last updated on: January 30, 2014 at 9:45 am By Scot McKnight

Our cohort for the DMin in New Testament Context is taking shape, and I could not be more excited than who has enrolled. Think about joining us… I will be directing a new and innovative Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program at Northern Seminary. Here’s our announcement: Northern is excited to announce a new Doctor of Ministry in New Testament Context. “The DMin in New Testament Context will give pastors the opportunity of a lifetime. In my speaking and conversations with... Read more

More Than Just Genes and Neurons (RJS)

Last updated on: February 4, 2014 at 5:43 am By RJS

I’ve taken a hiatus from the series on the book by Malcolm Jeeves Minds, Brains, Souls and Gods. The topic is important though, and worth a return. I’ll get back to the book, but today I would like to point (again) to a few short videos on the topic. The web site Test of FAITH contains excerpts from interviews with Christians active in the sciences. One series is particularly relevant to some of the aspects of our discussion of Minds,... Read more

Tim Keller on Suffering

Last updated on: February 3, 2014 at 10:18 pm By Scot McKnight

Interview with Tim Keller. David Moore conducted the following interview. Dave blogs at www.twocities.org. I’ve read quite a bit on the topic of suffering. There are some very good books available, but the ones that simply articulate a “free will” defense leave me empty. There is certainly truth to this line of argument, but it does not answer some of the more vexing issues I’ve struggled with, especially why suffering is so unevenly distributed. I was somewhat skeptical about reading... Read more